OUTDOOR PROGRAMS -- Outdoors enthusiasts have a choice of two interesting programs to consider attending in Spokane on Wednesday evening. Fly fishing – Pat Dorsey, who’s been named an Orvis Guide of the Year, will present a free program on fishing tailwaters, at the Spokane…
WINTER SPORTS -- Free avalanche workshops for snowmobilers are being offered in North Idaho in the next few weeks by the state Parks and Recreation Department and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests avalanche experts. The schedule: Jan. 14-15, based in Coeur d’ Alene. Jan 28-29,…
WILDLIFE -- It's the shedding season for the area's deer, elk and moose. Even the biggest bucks and bulls are getting rid of their head-gear and looking a lot like the girls. In early December, Hal Meenach, a landowner south of Spokane, reported seeing the…
BIRDWATCHING -- The big rough-legged hawks Inland Northwest birders are used to seeing perched on power poles along roadways during winter seem to be in short supply this season. In some years it's been common to see a the eagle-like hawks on almost every other…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- BLM wildlife biologist Carrie Hugo just returned from her weekly winter survey of bald eagles at Coeur d'Alene's Wolf Lodge Bay. The count: 128 total, including 95 adult and 33 immature eagles. The number is down from the whopping record count of…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced new appointments or re-appointments of four members to the Bureau of Land Management Coeur d’Alene District’s citizen-based Resource Advisory Council. The 15-member panel, composed of members with diverse interests and backgrounds, advises the Bureau…
WINTER SPORTS -- The weekend avalanche advisory is out for the Idaho Panhandle region and the word for the wise: Caution. While it rained in the valleys overnight, the precip was in the form of snow at higher elevations above 4,000 to 5,000 feet. But…
WILDLIFE -- While recent reports of 3,000 blackbirds falling to their deaths from the sky in Arkansas generated international publicity, that number is but a tiny fraction of the birds killed each year from human causes, according to American Bird Conservancy. Estimates from various studies…
HUNTING MEDIA -- Stories about hunting are routine here in The Spokesman-Review's Outdoors coverage, but a hunting story in Oprah's O magazine is significant news. The December issue of O includes an article by Kimberly Hiss, who detailed her challenges and emotions in deciding to…
HUNTING -- A Darby, Mont., man is going to court for illlegal hunting, but his worst offense might be leaving a teenage volunteer with a negative hunting memory she'll never forget. According to The Ravalli Republic, prosecutors say James E. Robinson, 58, told a high…
WILDLIFE -- Grizzly bear deaths neared record levels for the region around Yellowstone National Park in 2010, but government biologists said the population remains robust enough to withstand the heavy losses. The Associated Press reports that an estimated 75 of the protected animals were killed…
BACKCOUNTRY SKIING -- Canadian backcountry skier Greg Hill, 35, must feel like a million bucks after completing his goal – with a day to spare – of logging 2 million vertical ski-touring feet, all self-propelled, in 2010. And get this: He counted only the uphill…
WINTER SPORTS -- Friday is Jackass Day at Silver Mountain as they pay homage to the resort's humble beginnings and its less-than-delicate original name. The lift tickets are less, too: Only $9.45 plus tax, if there are any taxes left in Idaho. On Saturday, the…
WILDLIFE -- Eastern Washington's arctic cold snap has had one advantage you might not have considered: It's kept the bears in their dens. In the milder climate of Western Washington, an unusually high number of bears are staying active into the winter and causing problems…
WINTER SPORTS -- People began lining up an hour before sunrise on Saturday to be among the first to ride the state’s first enclosed ski lift that takes skiers and sightseers to the top of the Crystal Mountain ski area. The new Mount Rainier Gondola…
WINTER SPORTS -- Cheap “Learn to ski and snowboard” packages are being offered this month at Silver Mountain, 49 Degrees North, Mt. Spokane and Lookout Pass. Check out the EZ Ski and Ride 1-2-3 packages, which includes three lift tickets, three rentals, and three lessons.…
WILDLIFE -- After reports of thousands of dead red-winged blackbirds falling from the sky in Beebe, Arkansas on New Years Eve -- along with reports of a massive fish kill in the same area -- raised eyebrows across the nation, another bird kill is being…
ADVENTURING -- The SPOT messenger that gives adventure travelers the security of being able to send distress messages that pinpoint their locations anywhere in the world now can be activated through smartphones. Get the scoop on a product that's just now being shipped to dealers…
BIRD HUNTING -- The temperature was 18 degrees this morning when I started hiking up a ridge toward the top of the Snake River canyon. Somewhere between the river and the rim I expected to find chukar partridges hunkered down and waiting for me to…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Washington departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife swapped thousands of acres in a deal signed today. Generally, the trade helps each agency consolidate lands. It gives DNR more land to put to work for the benefit of state schools…
FISHING -- Idaho Fish and Game Department officials are trying to get word out about an error in the new 2011 state fishing regulations. It affects anglers who fish the Coeur d'Alene River. The published rule reads as follows: Coeur d’Alene River and Tributaries (to…
WILDLIFE -- Much like some people you might have seen on New Year's Eve, the immature bald eagle was grounded, wings spread with its head face-down in the snow along the Little Spokane River. It was rescued after an ordeal and it's still alive Monday…
WINTER SPORTS -- Maybe the outdoor economy isn't all doom and gloom. Schweitzer Mountain Resort today reported solid increases in visitation for December and the holidays that grace the early snow season. Overall visitation for the month of December was up 18.9 percent, while up…
FISHING -- Sometimes it's healthy to assess our Eastern Washington bounty from the perspective of Western Washington anglers. Here's a few out-takes from the most recent fishing column by Wayne Kruse of the Daily (Everett) Herald: "It's too bad that winter tends to be so…
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.